Possibility: Conversations
by Mystic83
Summary: What if Starbuck’s teasing hadn’t driven Apollo to walk away from her? What if he had wondered why she couldn’t just accept that he loved her? KaraLee
1. Part One

This will be a series of stand-alone stories which deal with the choices that the characters on Battlestar Galactica have made throughout the first half of the second season (I'll be posting in as much of the order of the season as I can). I want to explore what would have happened/changed if things had gone differently. Some of the stories will be angst, some will be shippy, some will be funny. There will be different pairings throughout. Don't feel like you have to check out each one to understand the others. All I ask is that if it intrigues you, then give it a try. Hope you enjoy reading the stories as much as I enjoyed writing them!

* * *

**_There are pivotal moments in one's life where if you take the wrong path everything may change. Those changes may be for the good or for the bad. The possibilities are endless.

* * *

_**

Lee let his words hang in the air before one of the few people he cared about in the world. He had just given Kara free reign to walk all over him. Not only that, but he had lied to her when he said he would just be there for her if she needed him. No way could he stand by and let her stay the way she was, drowning herself in whatever happened on Caprica. Lee knew he would end up pushing her until she opened up.

But now was not the time to make her talk. "Anyway, whenever you want to talk, just let me know."

Lee rose, feeling as if his words had both made their point and completely failed to connect. He was a few steps closer to the exit when her voice called him back.

"What was that middle part again?"

Lee's heart jumped a little at the tone of her voice. It might not be the same as before she had left, but suddenly there was a small hint of the old Kara. That, in addition to the fact he had no fraking clue what she was talking about, made him feel like things were returning to normal. "Hmm? What do you mean?"

Kara's face scrunched up as she asked, "Did you say you love me?"

Lee froze up at her words, and his memory started racing. Had he really just said… oh frak. "Well, um--"

"Lee Adama loves me."

She made it sound like a second-grade crush. "No, all I meant was--"

"No, seriously, very sweet. You love me."

Her eyes were shining with glee. Lee figured that was the only reason all he could manage was a nervous laugh. Kara must have picked up on his discomfort because she went on the defensive. "No, you love me. You can't take it back. There's no take-backs."

Now it definitely sounded like a schoolboy crush, Lee decided. It was time for him to stop this before it ended in hair-pulling or something equally juvenile. "You're dreaming it, Kara." he said, turning to make his way out of the equipment locker.

Kara's voice called out to him in a sing-songy tone. "You love me."

"You're dreaming it," he called over his shoulder. He knew she could hear the smile in his voice.

"You love me."

"Dreamer," he yelled.

Lee was about to turn the corner and leave when he heard her let out a deep breath. Something that hadn't occurred to him before. That was what made him turn around and walk back into the room. He saw Kara was still standing on the bench, pyramid ball clutched in her hands. She looked at him in confusion, and he knew he was changing their normal routine by coming back for more teasing.

Too bad she didn't know she was about to have the tables turned on her.

"Why do you care so much?" he asked, tilting his head as he tried to read her reaction.

Kara's face went pale. "What do you mean?"

"You seem so determined not to let me take back the fact that I told you I loved you. Why is it so important?"

She hopped down off the bench and shrugged. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Lee."

Lee fought the urge to smack her. He hated when she held up this double standard for him. He had to be open and honest with her, but gods forbid he asked the same in return. The odd thing was he knew exactly what was holding her back. "Kara, I'm not going to take back what I said even if you explain why it matters so much to you."

"It doesn't matter," Kara said, shaking her head. She started that infuriating bouncing once more.

"Come on," Lee prodded.

Kara caught the ball in her hand, and Lee could feel the shift come over her. They were done with the nice portion of the conversation. Now it was time to move on to the part where they said hurtful things they could never take back. "Maybe it's because you've been such a hard ass since you came on board Galactica. Every day, it's a constant reminder that you were never supposed to be a part of this. You've had this holier-than-thou mentality when it comes to flying and pretty much everything else our job entails. I've been scolded time and again by you for not doing my job right, for caring too much about things that would only stand in my way, but then I'm only a pilot to you, aren't I, Lee? That's why I find what you said so surprising. To know that you actually care for me as something other than just another asset you have to your advantage is a milestone, sir."

Lee stared at her a moment, letting the sudden hatred he felt flow through him, before shaking his head. "That's not it, Kara, and you know it." He turned on heel and left her with the knowledge that he could see right through her bullshit. The rhythmic pounding of the pyramid ball against the wall started up almost immediately. He could hear the violence in her throws as her emotions revealed themselves in the only way they knew how.

It was at times like this that he wondered if loving Kara Thrace was a complete waste of time.


	2. Part Two

Kara stood, staring at the hole in the cliffs up above Boomer had just made. "Not bad. Damn."

Then she heard Helo yelling Sharon's name, and she snapped back into reality. There was something she had to do. Sprinting the few yards, she stopped in front of where Lee lay on the ground. She looked down at him, her arms crossed in front of her, and did her best not to show any emotion. When he turned his eyes towards the ground in shame, it got to be too much. "I told you so," Kara said, grinning.

Lee glared at her as he picked himself up off the ground. "Sue me for not wanting to trust the Cylon," he hissed. His hands went down to rub where his back had landed on a rock.

Kara realized with a start Lee was right. It was natural not to want to trust the machine who had just saved their lives. Funny, it seemed somewhere along the line Kara had stopped thinking of Sharon as only a toaster. She had started to trust her without even noticing. It was so hard to shift the trust away even if she knew her friend was the enemy.

"Look at them," Lee said, pointing over to where Helo had led Sharon back to the President. Everyone was gathered around congratulating the Cylon for saving their lives. It was like they were forgetting what had happened to his father days earlier. "It's like she's the only one who has ever risked her life to keep the Fleet alive." He shook his head in disbelief and started walking.

Kara fell into line beside him. "They're all wrong if they think for one second she was the only reason those Cylons got blown away. Sure, you didn't do much to help her get that gun in order to shoot. But if anyone thinks for one second she could have made it that far on her own without being killed, they're stupid."

"What do you mean?" Lee asked.

"I was probably the only one to see it, but the kill shot you had on that toaster was a thing of beauty, Lee. You gave Sharon the opportunity she needed to get to that gun."

They walked in silence a few steps before Kara shook her head and chuckled. When Lee gave her an inquiring look, she explained, "So I still can't figure out why I found it reassuring that you were the one I was pinned down with."

"You felt reassured while Cylons were trying to kill us?"

"I know. It's strange, but it was almost like I knew I would be okay because you and I can find our way out of any situation as long as we're working together. Does that make any sense?"

"Perfect sense," Lee smirked. "I mean, we do work well together, don't we?"

"Only when we're on-shift," Kara joked.

They were almost back to where the others stood when something occurred to Kara. She grabbed Lee's arm and pulled him to a stop. "Gods. We left the President open without protection during all that chaos."

"Don't worry. Zarek's men had her. I made sure of that."

"In the few seconds we had to take cover, you had the time to check on the President?" Kara shook her head. "Not even you're _that _good."

Lee smirked at her. "You might doubt me, but I'm pretty good in combat situations. I took stock of the situation and put myself where I thought I should be."

"What the frak is that supposed to mean?" Kara yelled as he started walking away from her.

Lee turned and smiled. "Come on, Kara! Do you actually think we ended up pinned down together by chance?" He held her eyes for a few seconds before giving her a wink and then turning to train his smile on the President instead.

Kara stood without moving as she waited for her heart to stop beating so fraking fast. It was during moments like these that she knew why she loved Lee Adama.


	3. Part Three

Kara tried to focus on cleaning her gun and not on the fact that Lee's shoulder was touching hers. She could feel the heat radiating off of him as she fought to believe he was actually there beside her. It was so surreal having him back in her life.

"Gives me the creeps seeing him acting like that with her."

Kara didn't have to look up at Lee to know where his gaze was directed. Across the camp, Boomer was sitting in Helo's arms, and they looked to be having a small, peaceful moment amidst the chaos of their situation. Again, Kara reminded herself that Lee had not had the time to adjust to these two like she had.

"He loves her," she tried to explain while still keeping up the pretext of cleaning a gun whose last bit of dirt had been banished half an hour earlier. "And yeah, he knows she's a machine. He doesn't care. He loves her anyway."

The deep breath she heard Lee take before responding told her that he wasn't ready to understand.

"Frak! How can one of us get that roped in by one of them?" He paused in his cleaning to look over at her. "You know, we should keep an eye on him, too."

Kara fought the need to lash out at him, to scream at him that he had no idea what love was really like, and to remind him of how love could make you do some fraking crazy things. But that would only snowball their time into another conversation about Zak. She was getting tired of everything always leading back to the first man she had ever loved.

Sticking with a safe topic, she tore her eyes away from Lee and back to her task. "Helo's a friend of mine, all right? He's one of the good guys."

"Yeah?" It was when Lee spoke to her in that cold, crisp tone that Kara knew she was in trouble. She braced herself for impact. "Sharon was a friend of yours, too."

Kara did her best not flinch or show any reaction to what Lee had said. She knew he was watching her and waiting for it. Well, he was going to have to learn that she wasn't the predictable hothead he believed her to be. Using the rag in her hand, she put more pressure on the already clean gun as she did her best not to snap.

She was so close to cracking, and Lee knew it. For whatever reason, he wanted her to lose it. That was why it was so surprising when he didn't keep pushing. Instead, he pulled back and returned his focus to his gun.

In retrospect, Kara should have seen it coming. Lee had been switching from supportive to downright cruel since the moment they had reunited on the Astral Queen. It took her to a whole new level of pain mixed with pleasure which she had never felt before. When it came down to it, the pain starting to outweigh everything else, and that hurt.

All the unintentional brushing of shoulders and heat radiating aside, sometimes Kara really thought loving Lee Adama was a waste of time.


	4. Part Four

Lee stared at the fire absentmindedly as he told Kara about the first girl he had ever picked up in a bar. It was a funny story that he thought she might find amusing and maybe it could take her mind off their situation for a few minutes as his father and the President finished their negotiation or whatever the frak they were doing in that tent. They had been talking quietly for over ten minutes so far.

As he told her of his really horrible attempts to get the woman in the bar to come home with him, Lee looked over at Kara and smiled. He was surprised when she returned the grin but then abruptly averted her eyes. Now it was _Kara _intently staring at the fire to keep the conversation from getting personal.

She had been acting like this since he first stole that damn pyramid ball from her and then admitted he loved her. Something had shifted between them as they both hinted at something they had spent years suppressing. That was the real reason why Lee found himself afraid that her sudden shyness was more from whatever the frak that ball stood for rather than his honesty.

Kara had never been hesitant towards anyone, let alone someone she knew as well as him. She wasn't that kind of girl. He had watched her only minutes earlier as she mended her relationship with his father and apologized to the Chief for taking away his new toy. She didn't act hesitant towards them. This shying away seemed to only apply to him.

It was odd how much a little shift in behavior could make Lee worry.

Lee's eyes rested on her hair, now pulled back into a tiny ponytail. He couldn't believe how much it had grown. Had Kara really been gone that long? It was nice to see a few pieces were still too short to stay put and fell into her face. The more he thought about it, the more those little stray hairs embodied everything Kara was. She couldn't be tied down, and she tended to get in his way whenever he was trying to focus. Yet most of the time, he couldn't help but want to touch her. It wasn't just because she was there or because she was in his way.

Lee knew if he ever worked up the courage to push those loose hairs out of her eyes, they would be _exactly_ like Kara, soft to the touch and almost too much for him. She was the person he could take one look at and know she would be a part of his life forever. He wouldn't have it any other way.

"You're staring," she said, looking at him out of the corner of her eyes.

Lee kept watching her a moment before winking. "So?"

Her mouth slid into a lazy grin, and she looked back down at the fire.

As he tried to wipe the grin from his face, Lee could feel himself fall a little more. Moments like these, when it was just Kara and him blocking out the world, made him understand why he loved a Viper pilot from the wrong side of the tracks so fraking much.


	5. Part Five

Kara felt Lee behind her as she walked forward to place the Arrow of Apollo. He jumped right along with her when the artifact was pulled out of her hands that last few inches. Then, when the tomb was engulfed in darkness, she could swear his hand came out to hold hers.

But the stars came out and she found him yards away, closer to the President than to her.

Her mind drifted to think of Anders as the President started naming the original names of the Twelve Colonies, and she found herself struggling to picture the way he had smiled at her as she began to break down in tears upon their parting. Her time on Caprica felt like years ago instead of days. If she was being honest, Kara actually felt like it was a whole other person who had waged war against the Cylons on her home planet.

It hurt to remember Anders and the sacrifice she had made in leaving him behind, but somehow, standing in such a tranquil place soothed whatever pain the distant memory caused her. She would have to get used to the dull ache because she couldn't deny it any longer. Both she and President Roslin knew there was no way the Fleet could return to any of the twelve planets they had called home. They couldn't risk it.

Kara found herself faced with the harsh truth. She was going to have to mourn yet another loss, thanks to the Cylons. Blinking back tears, she let her eyes drift around until they rested on Lee. He had offered her a chance to share her problems with someone, and Kara figured a shoulder to cry on was included. She had always used Lee for that in the past.

The words Leoben Conoy had whispered to her once rang through her head. The time she spent on the Geminon Traveler felt like ages ago, but his words still held true. Kobol will lead the Fleet to Earth. Kara looked down at the ground as those around her tried to figure out what this newfound map meant and where Earth could be found.

She didn't have to listen to their words. In her heart, she already knew where Earth was.


	6. Part Six

Lee had never been so happy that he had paid attention in science class during primary school. Kara's voice had held just a tiny bit of fear in it when she asked what they were supposed to do now that they knew how to figure out which planet was Earth.

Kara had given them a map, but Lee had been the one to give them a direction.

It had earned him a shared smile with the woman he would do anything for, and they held each other's eyes as the others broke off to look around. There was so much he had been waiting to say to her since she came back. He had been waiting for the right time, and he had a feeling that it was now.

They started talking at the same time.

"Kara-"

"Lee-"

They both cut off to let the other one speak, and the silence filled the gap between them.

After a moment, Lee reached out and pushed the hair out of her eyes. It was soft, and his hand lingered against her cheek. She was soft. He rubbed his thumb gently along the edge of her jaw and was rewarded with a soft sigh as Kara leaned into his touch.

They stayed that way until the world around them faded away.


End file.
